


Seconds

by Giroshane



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Mental Health Issues, Mild Gore, a couple of implied ships but its not big, lots of personal headcanons here, those are the main people but almost everyone is mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-10-06 23:30:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10347021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Giroshane/pseuds/Giroshane
Summary: An accident in the battlefield brings everyone much closer to Hanzo's struggles than anyone is comfortable with, and at the center of it all is one Hana Song.





	1. Second Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all, I'm trying something out in terms of languages and the like so y'all don't have to be bouncing back and forth between google translate. I hope it all comes across clear in the writing!

It happens when a mission goes sour. Not terribly sour, but enough that the rest of the team is huddled around the payload as a last defense. Hanzo is the only agent remaining out in the field, having been the farthest away from the payload when the team regrouped. He darts from rooftop to rooftop, distracting Talon agents. From close by it would seem that Hanzo's movements are erratic, drawing certain agents down one alley and other agents down another, only aiming to harry them haphazardly. But Hanzo is always one for strategy, and now is hardly different, although this plan is a bit of a risk.

The rest of his team is reminding him of such.

"Brother, what you are doing is reckless."

"What I am doing will secure the payload." Hanzo retorts through the comm, firing another scatter arrow blast. 

"I will fly to your position--"

"No." He shakes his head. "Your Valkyrie suit will only draw attention to me. Keep the rest of the team safe, Mercy. Keep yourself safe."

"The bloke's crazier than I am!" Junkrat crows, and Hanzo can hear his explosives blast in both the background of the comm and the background of the night. The archer grimaces.

"Is there anyone who will  _ not _ heckle me about this?"

"It looks like a plan I'd use." McCree comments dryly.

"That is not a vote in my favor."

"Watch it, Shimada." The gunslinger fires, but lets it slide. "I'm serious--and it ain't a half-bad strategy. Guide all the targets to one easy location. Line em' up. Shoot. Like fish in a barrel." 

Yes. That’s exactly Hanzo's plan. He’s glad he has someone on his side, even if it is just Jesse--

"But this is a much bigger scale than any I've seen this kinda plan used on, are you sure ya don't want any ground support--"

"If Mercy will bring the attentions of the Talon agents to me, you will bring the attentions of the world." Hanzo dismisses him immediately as he fires off arrow after arrow. Some aren't meant to hit Talon agents; some are meant to scare them, hit close enough to send them running.

“Cold, much?” Jesse huffs. Hanzo smirks but keeps firing. And running. Fire burns in his lungs and his feet are starting to feel heavy. He doesn’t have much time before he becomes too exhausted to continue.    


“Send what enemies you can down the alley northwest of the payload.” He says, trying not to make it evident that he’s panting. He eyes the large alley he’s been herding all of these agents to. Now is the time to strike.   


He miscalculates as he jumps between rooftops and a bullet grazes his thigh. With a pained yell he breaks his fall onto the next roof with a roll. But he doesn’t allow himself any more time to falter. He can rest when the mission is done. 

He drops down silently to the ground. He only has a second, a hare’s breath of time. Ready aim fire before the enemy has the chance to process. 

He draws an arrow. Strings it. Aims.   


A hare’s breath.

“ _Ry_ _ū_ _ga waga teki wo kurau!_ ”

A hare’s breath is all it takes.

He sees her as she turns the corner, ready to attack from the other end of the alley. Every part of him turns to ice because he can’t stop it  _ can’t stop it _ .

_ She was supposed to be by the payload _ .

If he had known he could have shielded her, told the dragons to avoid allies. But he had only sent them forth with malice, malice without caution and now he can only watch in horror as they fly forth, roaring.

“ _ No _ .”

Desperate, useless.

He feels every part of himself  _ crack _ . He can  _ see _ the look on her face, illuminated by celestial light. The determination turns to cold cold fear and suddenly it’s years ago again, watching his dragons fly towards his brother, too young,  _ too young _ , and this time it’s not with rage in his heart it’s  _ terror _ . 

_ You were never supposed to do this again _ .

He’s already running long before the dragons finish, but it’s still too late. He can see the mecha overheating. He only has the time to scream before its blast launches him back.

_ “D.Va!” _

The blast shakes the ground all the way to the payload. McCree stumbles, almost falling off of it.

“What the  _ hell _ !?” He squawks.

“It wasn’t me!” Junkrat immediately cries, although more out of surprise than deflection of blame. On the very top of the payload, he can see the mushroom of smoke and fire. He’s only seen an explosion like that a few times, but he knows blasts well enough that he can identify any on sight. But this one doesn’t make sense, unless...

“No, that--that came from where Hanzo was.” Genji says. His voice is tinged with worry. “But he only summoned his dragons, not anything else.”

“Hanzo, report!” Mercy snapped through her comm. The dragons have been known to blow out Hanzo’s comm before, but his had been modified, it should bounce back a few moments after firing. So far nothing but static.

“Oi, fellas…” Junkrat calls the attention of the group to him. “Where’s the sheila from Korea?” 

“She’s not inside the payload?” Genji leaps up to look inside over Junkrat’s shoulder. His heartbeat is already quickening, but he doesn’t want to believe it. Her comm had been destroyed and so had her mecha, she had been relegated to the payload to keep her out of harm’s way, she would not have done something so foolish,  _ please Hana, please _ \--

As if on cue Hanzo’s comm bursts back to life in a roar of static and screams.

“HANA!  _ HANA _ !  _ NO _ !” 

Everyone who has the ability to pale does.

“Good god.” McCree chokes.

Hanzo runs as if his life depends on it, leaping over bodies and debris and ignoring the pain in his leg. He got to his feet as soon as he could, but only wreckage remains. His heart pounds too loudly in his ears. 

A scattered piece of engine sputters fire, but its burn doesn’t deter him. His eyes are peeled for her, for Hana, for the young woman who teased him relentlessly and made puns out of his name and persuaded him to let her paint his nails and who handed his ass to him on a silver platter during combat training.

_ What have you done!? _

He tries not to drown in the horror, in the memories but they’re already dragging him away from reality.

_ He’s running through the halls, hysterical, a mad man, with the house staff chasing after him desperately. His body sings with agony but all he can think of is Genji Genji  _ Genji.  _ He could be in one of these rooms, right? He’ll be there and it’ll all just be a nightmare, a bad dream. Instead he only finds one of his elders, Takama. The man halts his hysterics with a violent slap to the face. Hanzo falls to his knees. _

_ “It has been two months and he is still like this? Pathetic.” The elder speaks aloud, not even deigning to address Hanzo. “Performing a necessary duty should be taken in stride and with pride.” _ _  
_

_ How can I be proud of murder? How can I take the fact that Genji is dead in stride? _

_ His blood on my hands is my hell. _

_ His blood. _

_ Her blood. _ _  
_

He trips over the foot of the mech, falling into the main, charred hunk of its carcass. It’s still smoking, still  _ burning _ , the metal cuts and scorches him and he writhes, yelling out. He kicks and fights as if it’s trying to drown him, drown him in everything he’s feeling.

He drags himself out of the wreckage, shaking from the pain and the adrenaline and the panic. He’s on the verge of collapse when he finally  _ finally _ sees her.

“ _ Hana _ !” 

She’s crumpled on the ground, against the wall, probably blown into it by the blast, by the dragons,  _ dear god _ , she’s  _ not moving _ . Hanzo scrambles to her, crying her name desperately. It's too dark, he can't see what's soot and dirt and what's blood.  _ Pulse, pulse, pulse _ , he thinks, and his hands paw at her, rolling her over. She’s limp, a broken doll. A hand latches onto her wrist and the other gently cups her throat. 

“Hana, Hana, Hana,” He mumbles her name like a mantra. At first he can’t find it, and his heart kicks his ribcage and he barely bites back a sob. But reason (somehow) wins out and he waits. And he waits. And it’s there. Sluggish, but there. This time he does sob, but it’s with relief. 

Her hair sticks to her face; he pulls her into his arms and brushes it away. Two large cuts slash up her face diagonally, across her broken nose and across her lips. Either a head wound has bled down into her eye or it’s the eye itself that is damaged. And those are only the wounds he can make out against the stark paleness of her face. His shaking hand graces over them before simply cradling her head.   


“Hana, Hana I’m sorry,” He whispers desperately, lapsing in and out of his mother tongue. “ _I’m so sorry_ , please stay strong, please hold on, _stay strong sister, little sister_ , Hana, please.”  


He presses a shaky kiss to her forehead and prays there’s still enough time. 

“Mercy.” He chokes through his comm. He thinks they have been yelling at him but they blended in with the screams from his past; now they are silent. “Mercy, I need Mercy.”

There is a crackle of static, and it is only through the quietness of Mercy’s voice that he realizes his ears are ringing.

“Hanzo, Hanzo, what happened!? Is Hana with you?”

“Mercy, I need you here, now. Hana’s--Hana is--” He chokes on his breath.   


“ _ Is she alive? _ ” McCree barks, and Hanzo can hear the fear in his voice.

“Yes, but--but--please hurry,  _ please _ , I--”

“Hanzo, we’ve been ambushed.” Genji speaks with panicked urgency. “We’re almost at the warehouse, we cannot push back.”    


“Genji, don’t you dare suggest leavin’ them behind--” McCree starts.

“I am not!” Genji snaps. “Hanzo, can you carry her?”

“That is too risky! There could be internal bleeding--” Mercy protests.

“If any of us leave the payload we risk the mission and we risk our own lives!”

“Fuck the mission! I ain’t leavin’ them out there, we have to go back--”

“At least let me fly out to them--”

“You are currently the only thing keeping Junkrat on two feet!” Genji practically shouts. “The majority of the attackers are focused on  _ us _ , meaning Hanzo and Hana are at minimal risk of getting attacked themselves. If we can clear enough of a path, they can make it back to us. It may be the only chance Hana has.”

Before anyone has the chance to protest, Genji addresses Hanzo again.

“Hanzo,  _ can you carry her _ ?”

It takes him a moment to realize he’s being spoken to, too focused on making sure he can still feel Hana’s pulse.

“Yes, I--I can carry her.”

“Then try to get back to us. We will try to clear the way for you.  _ Do not lose hope _ ,  _ brother _ .” 

Hanzo nods, not thinking about being heard or seen. He presses another kiss to Hana’s forehead before slowly bringing himself to his feet, with Hana gently in his arms. He treats her like porcelain, and keeps her close.

His first step is shaky and his leg almost gives out--the bullet wound in his thigh is worse than he thought. But he perseveres, he  _ has  _ to.

「 _ I’ll get you home little sister _ ,  _ just hold on _ . 」 He murmurs. He is too wounded to run (and so is she) but he goes as fast as he can. He keeps to the shadows and alleyways to avoid any straggling Talon agents. His thoughts are a torrent in his mind, a jumble of Japanese and English and what little Korean he knows spilling past his lips with every breath due to panic and pain. For a moment he almost loses himself, and he’s running through the halls of his home in Hanamura once again, covered in blood,  _ what have I done what have I done what have I done _ \--

“Hanzo.” Genji’s voice cuts through. His voice sounds strained, but calm. “Focus on the now.”

Hanzo gasps, whirling where he stands, trying to get his bearings. 

“We are not in Hanamura, Hanzo.”

Buildings loom dark and high above him, and he tries to focus on the distant noise of combat, where the rest of the team is. Hana feels too light in his arms, too small.

“Hanzo, I am alive and Hana is alive. We will stay that way, of that I am sure. Just focus, brother.”

Genji keeps speaking to him like this, reassuring him, grounding him. He starts asking questions, simple, easy ones that keep Hanzo from drifting away again. Every now and then his brother will go silent, and Hanzo knows it is because he is consumed by battle and he knows it is foolish for Genji to distract himself by doing this but Genji keeps coming back. Keeps talking.

As he concentrates on Genji’s voice to stay focused he is not as aware as he should be of the shadows. He doesn't realize until a split second too late, he whirls but can already see the gun barrel pointed square at his chest, and he can't do anything anyways without risking Hana. Or so he thinks.

It happens so fast he doesn't process it until he sees the small pistol before him, and the Talon agent on the ground dead, a single headshot. Hanzo looks down.

She’s trembling from the effort of keeping her hand steady, and blood is dribbling from her lips, but she's still managing to smile. 

“D.Va: one. Bad guys: zero.” She rasps. Her arm falls limp and she shudders, coughing. Hanzo holds her closer. 

“Sh, sh, save your strength.” His lips graze over her forehead again, “Thank you, Hana. Just hold on for a little longer.”

Hana curls into him, mumbling weakly in Korean. Hanzo can only catch the word “cold”. 

“Just hold on, Hana. Just hold on.” He repeats, taking off again, as fast as he can. They thankfully no longer cross paths with anymore Talon agents. 

Hanzo warily circles the area around the payload once he finds it. The payload is practically surrounded, but it has reached the warehouse. McCree and Junkrat seem to be holding off the brunt of the forces; Genji and Mercy are trying to activate the bay doors that’ll allow the payload to pass through. In theory, once inside the warehouse the building would be strong enough for them to hold until extraction. Hanzo can’t find a window to the payload until Jesse spots him at the edge of the alleyway. 

“Junkrat, now!” He calls, throwing several flashbangs at once. The junker grins and scatters concussion mines throughout. Every single one is detonated with the press of a button before the forces can recover. 

Hanzo’s running seconds after the detonations, when the smoke has hardly cleared; he cannot risk losing this opportunity, even if running so fast makes his vision swim and jostles Hana. He almost trips over the body of an enemy and barely ducks the swipe of another, and using the last of his strength and adrenaline he leaps up onto the payload as Jesse covers him. 

“Mercy.” Hanzo gasps. “ _ Mercy _ !”

She’s there in an instant, and so is Genji (having opened the warehouse doors). Genji takes Hana from him, and lays her down on the ground. Hanzo can hear him curse but it’s as if by letting go of Hana he’s lost his tether to reality. The world tips and he falls to his hands and knees. He hears noises of worry.

“ _ Save Hana _ .” He spits. With a groan he falls to the ground fully, but he can’t seem to fall unconscious. Instead his eyes rest on Hana, on her body lying limp next to his. His breath comes in ragged gasps. They enter the warehouse and with the slam of the door closing the gunfire ceases--McCree, Junkrat, and Genji managing to suppress Talon forces so they cannot enter--and they are bathed in full light.

Hana is covered in blood. Hanzo is covered in her blood. Mercy is setting to work but when Hanzo weakly takes Hana’s hand in both of his it’s already cold. He can hear voices and yelling but he can’t focus on what’s being said. He shudders, tears falling. 

_ You were never supposed to do this again. _

_ I’m so sorry, Hana.  _

Pressing their hands to his lips is the last thing he remembers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I started writing this months ago. The working title was "Ficlet" up until today, almost six months since I started, the day I published this thing. The wordcount is now almost 20k. This is not a ficlet. 
> 
> Choo, choo, angst train has no brakes


	2. Second Life

When Hana wakes up it’s to soft, gentle music. Her senses are foggy and dim, and seem to be coming back to her one by one; hearing first. She's too tired to force the rest just yet. The music is calm and happy and--Hana realizes--healing. The music is flowing through her, easing the pain, of which--again she realizes--there is a lot of. She grumbles quietly and tries to recall what would lead to this much pain and fatigue. There was...oh right, the mission in Mexico. The--she had been fighting, but then the MEKA was destroyed. The fire had been too heavy and since her comm had been blown out (again, dammit) she’d been ordered to stay inside the payload. But...she’d been itching to get back out there, the team was having so much trouble. She’d gotten the signal that another MEKA could be deployed and she’d snuck out to a clear point and called it down. She’d noticed the Talon forces converging on an alleyway, likely to make one strong push out of it. There was no way the team would be able to hold them off then. But if D.Va snuck in she could mow them down from behind. Give the team a chance. A sound plan. But then she’d turned the corner--and all she could see was blue and all she could hear was screaming and  _ roaring _ and--

_ Oh. _

Her eyes shoot open.

“Hanzo.”

She blinks against the harsh light as she struggles to piece together the rest of the events. They start to fall apart completely after that, but she knows those were Hanzo’s dragons. She knows that's when the pain started, and the panic. But everything's disjointed. She remembers Hanzo’s voice. 

After a while it becomes futile to try and remember it all, it only makes her head hurt, so she focuses instead on her surroundings now that her eyes are open. She recognizes it immediately as the medbay at the main base in Gibraltar. Whatever’s happened, they got her back safely at least. She can't see out of her right eye, it must be bandaged. In fact, the more proprioception she regains the more bandages she feels. She’s only propped up minimally, and it hurts to look down at her body; her legs though, are in casts and elevated slightly. Her right arm is in a cast too. 

_ I must make a lovely picture _ . She thinks grimly. But at least she’s alive to be said picture. She feels weight on the hospital bed that isn't hers and looks to her left. She smiles even though it hurts.

Lúcio is asleep, probably passed out--of course, it’s his music that's playing, after all. His head rests on his arms on her bed, shoulders rising and falling gently. His locs hang loose.  He looks peaceful when he's asleep. Hana’s smile falls a little when she notices the bags under his eyes and how unkempt his hair really is. 

_How long was I out?_ _How long has it been?..._

_ Is Hanzo alright? _

She swallows, but her throat is incredibly sore and dry, so it results in a wheezing cough. Correction: it results in a wheezing coughing  _ fit _ . Lúcio immediately stirs; she recovers, but he's already awake. He looks up to her, still a little groggy, but breaks into a huge grin when he realizes she's awake. His movements are slow and gentle but still effusing joy.

“Hey,  _ coelho _ , you’re awake.” He coos, sitting up a little. He takes her hand in his and rubs his thumb over her knuckles. It takes her a moment to process the English, but when she does she smiles apologetically. 

「 _ I’m sorry _ 」 Her words are slow and rasping, and it’s hard to grasp the English but she manages, “I didn't mean to wake you,  _ gaeguli _ .” 

“What? And miss out on this? No chance.” Lúcio shakes his head. He raises her hand and kisses it softly. The look in his eyes is sincere. “You have no idea how good it is to see you awake.”

Hana is about to tease, but then she remembers the bags under his eyes.

“How...long was I out?”

Lúcio’s grin immediately falters. In the end, he can’t keep it. That’s enough to make Hana worried.

“It’s...um..it’s been about two weeks since they brought you back. Almost three.” He finally admits, voice quiet. He doesn’t miss her alarmed expression or small gasp.

“But don’t worry! What matters is that you’re awake! That means you’re getting better!” He says hurriedly, plastering on his grin. Hana frowns.

“Lúcio, do not make--don’t…” She struggles for a moment, fumbling with the second language. “Don’t go easy on me. What happened?”

Lúcio solemns. He knows he won’t be able to deflect.

“What...what do you remember coelho?” He asks cautiously. 

“It...a lot of it is...confusing.” Hana again tries to sort through the memories in her head. “I was on the mission. My comm got wrecked but...I got the signal that I could call down another MEKA. We were being hit so bad, I needed to get back out there. So I did. All the Talon agents were...were like...grouping up for one big...push, so I was going to attack them from behind. But when I turned the corner…”

Hana trails off, the question from before running through her head again, and this time she voices it.

“Is Hanzo alright?”

“What?” 

“Hanzo. Those were his dragons. I know they made the MEKA...overload, but--but after that I can’t remember anything. Is he okay?”

“Um, yeah.” Lúcio mumbles, looking away. “Hanzo...everyone’s okay.”

Hana zeroes in on the misdirection.

“I asked about Hanzo, not the team. Though it’s good to know they’re okay too.”

After a pause, Lúcio sighs, bowing his head. 

“Coelho...you...it was…” He inhales abruptly, as if getting all his thoughts together in one breath. “Talon wasn’t regrouping, Hanzo was  _ herding _ them to--to wipe them all out. He didn’t know you were there until it was too late. Your MEKA overloaded...and  _ exploded _ ...Mercy said it was possible the only reason you’re alive is because you realized what was happening and had started to eject yourself. But still…” He trails off weakly, eyes squeezed shut.

“Lúcio...” She prompts. He looks back to her, and this time there are tears in his eyes.

“Hana,  _ you died _ .” His voice cracks. “You flatlined out in the field. Hanzo found you, he managed to get you back to the rest of the team, but you...you didn’t have a pulse. You scared everyone half to death... _ graças a Deus _ Mercy managed to bring you back.” He sniffles. 

“That’s why I’ve been out for so long?”

He nods.

“Once Doc got you back here, you were still c-critical. She had no choice but to induce a coma just to give you a fighting ch-chance. You...it was rough going for a while there.”

Hana squeezes his hand reassuringly, although it seems to sting and pull at cuts in her fingers. Again he pulls her hand to his lips and kisses her knuckles. He seems to regain his composure after that, so she presses for more.

“And...Hanzo?”

“He was pretty beat up from the fight too, and...from what we gathered, he ran for you as soon as he saw you, so he was caught in the MEKA explosion. He’d also been shot, at some point. He was nowhere near as bad as...he’s fine, now. For the most part.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”   


“...I...don’t wanna talk about it.” Lúcio says stiffly. He shakes away the feeling and turns his full attention back to her. “What about you? How are you feeling? Are you still hurting?”

Hana doesn't like the way he dodges the subject of the archer but she decides to leave it for now. She shifts slightly, as much as she’s able to.

“Yeah. Hurts a lot.” She mumbles. “Your music helps though.” After a thought, she adds with a smile: “I’m feeling that healing beat.”

Lúcio’s face blanks for a moment, before he suddenly starts laughing. It’s quiet at first, but soon turns into a full-blown cackle. 

“Why are you laughing?” She didn’t mean for it to be that funny. Then she realizes Lúcio’s crying again, almost in hysterics. “Why are you crying?”

He buries his face in his hands, trying to calm himself down. She reaches out and pats his forearm. It takes him about a minute.

“ _ Eu sinto muito _ ,” He mumbles, wiping his eyes. He leans back down onto the bed, head resting gently against her shoulder and arm draped carefully across her middle. “I just...there were so many times when I was so afraid I’d never hear you say stuff like that again.”

“Come on,  _ gaeguli _ .” She says. “Have a little more faith in my mad skillz, please.”

He laughs into her shoulder--it’s still wet, but it’s a laugh.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Hana runs her fingers through his locs. They stay like that for while--or at least, Hana thinks it’s for a while. She thinks Lúcio’s fallen asleep again and she’s about to fall asleep herself when Mercy suddenly enters, rapidly but quietly. She’s incredibly focused on the holo board in her hands.

「 _ Good morning, Doctor _ . 」 Hana greets. Mercy jumps, head whipping up, but before she can speak Hana hushes her.

“Shhh,” She pats Lúcio’s head lightly, a teasing glint in her eye, “The  _ baby _ ’s sleeping.”

Dr. Zeigler grins, equal amounts of overjoyed and concerned. She rushes forward to Hana’s right side, feeling her forehead and checking the machinery Hana realizes she’s hooked up to.

“He’s been worrying himself sick over you. We all have, really.” She murmurs, and Hana can tell she’s trying hard to keep tears out of her voice. Angela bends down to be eye level with her.

“I’m so happy to see you awake, Hana.” She says. She lays a gentle hand on Hana’s upper arm. “How are you feeling? How is your pain?”

“A lot. Music helps.” Hana rasps. “...really thirsty.”

“Well, that’s an easy fix.” Angela chuckles. She props Hana up after gently moving Lúcio off of her, after reassuring her that she’s done this several times and the man sleeps like a log.

“Honestly, Genji’s carried him to bed three times now and he hasn’t even stirred.” 

“Aw man, I would have paid to see that.” Hana grumbles as she takes a proffered cup of water, careful not to spill any over Lúcio’s head.

“Oh don't worry, I'm fairly certain everyone on base has managed to sneak a picture of it.” Zeigler reassures her. She smiles mischievously. “Including yours truly. I can send them to you.”

“Nice!” Hana says after taking a several gulps, no longer feeling like her throat will die if she talks too loud. After a thought she speaks. “Did we pull off the mission?”

“Hm?” 

“Did we get those power cores out of the city?”

Angela frowns.

“Oh liebling, you shouldn't be worrying over that. You should focus on yourself.”

“C’mon Doc, I may be young but I'm not helpless. I'm a trained soldier. I want to know about the mission.”

“Be careful there, Hana,” Angela says, raising an eyebrow, “keep talking like that and you’ll sound more like Jack than Jack does.”

Hana giggles, then lowers her voice to mimic the former Strike Commander.

“We’re all soldiers now. I don't stop til the fight’s done--oh, ow, ow, where's my walker--”

Angela laughs until Hana breaks off in a coughing fit. Lúcio stirs but doesn’t wake.

“Liebling, don't push yourself like that.” She frets, rubbing Hana’s shoulder soothingly. “You took a lot of lung damage from--and--and you’re still recovering.”

“I'm okay.” Hana wheezes. She drinks more water, but looks at the doctor expectantly. Angela sighs.

“Yes, we made it to the warehouse and managed to hold the point till extraction.”

“And everyone else is okay?”

“Yes. Genji and Jesse only sustained minor injuries. Jamison had to have minor surgery to fix his prosthetics, but--”

“And Hanzo?” Hana asks, hoping for answers. Angela stiffens.

“He had to stay in the medical bay for the majority of a week. I--I was focused on--on--” She fumbles.

“Trying to keep me alive?” Hana asks. To her credit, the doctor tries to put on a brave face.

“Ah--well, yes. I focused all my attentions on you, so Hanzo unfortunately went untreated until we made it back to base, when I had Lúcio to assist me. Therefore the infection in a bullet wound he sustained took longer to heal.”

“Is he okay now?”

“...Yes. Yes he is.” Angela says after a time. Hana doesn’t like the sound of her voice, the way she answers, as if she’s lying, or at least not telling the whole truth. But before she has the chance to press further someone else walks in.

“Hey doc,” It’s Jesse, voice tired. “Just, yanno--”

He stops in his tracks when he sees Hana awake; his face lights up like fireworks.

“Hey, kiddo.” He comes forward, grinning. “Look who’s finally on the up and up again.”

“Nothing can keep me down for long.” Hana fires back, smiling. Jesse chuckles in response.

“No, suppose not.” He replies. He looks to Angela like an eager puppy. “Still okay if I pay my usual visit, doc?”

Angela smiles wryly. “I’d really prefer Hana rest now that she is awake, so she doesn’t push herself too hard. But--” She raises a hand to halt Hana’s protest. “I know how stubborn she is. You get ten minutes.”

“Thank ya kindly, Angie.” Jesse tips his hat as Angela leaves. He takes a seat opposite of Lúcio by Hana’s side. She has to turn her head to see him properly.

“‘Usual visit’?” She asks. Jesse huffs sheepishly.

“Ah, it’s--it’s nothin’. Just been stoppin’ by for a little bit everyday, just to check up on ya.” He shrugs. “Was hopin’ maybe to be the one there when ya finally woke up, but I guess that pleasure goes to Lúcio here. He didn’t sleep through it did he?”

“Almost, haha.” Hana giggles. “He didn’t stay up for long though.” Her smile falls. “He’s really tired.”

“Kid’s been pushing himself too hard.” Jesse says simply. “I visit for a little while everyday--Angie’s gotta fight with him to keep him from spending the night. Genji’s had to drag his ass outta here once or twice.”

“Doc told me about that.” Hana snickers, but when she looks back to her friend her smile again falls. “He said I’d been out for almost three weeks. Has he been doing this all that time?”

“Just about. Angela did a good job of keepin’ him busy and distracted when we first got back, when--when you were really bad. But then she had to--uh--she had to put ya in a coma to let yer body heal. There wasn’t much anyone could do but wait after that. Lúcio just started spending his days in here. I’m fairly certain he’s put together a whole album just sittin’ by yer bedside.”

「 _ Silly frog _ , 」 Hana sighs. “He is too much.”

“You haven’t seen the garden Bastion’s growing for you.”

“Aw, really?” 

“Yes sir. Pretty sure the flowers are all Korean natives. Zenyatta’s been helping them with it a lot.” Jesse nods. Hana rests a hand over her heart, touched.

“That’s so sweet!”

“Everyone on base cares about you a whole lot, sweetheart. We were all real worried for a while there.” 

“So I’ve heard.” Hana says. She reaches out and rubs Lúcio shoulder gently. “I really appreciate it.”

“Aw it ain’t nothin’. Bein’ in Overwatch is like bein’ a part of the craziest family you possibly could be. We look out for our own.” Jesse reassures her, smiling. “And I guarantee you about half of us are mother hens.” He adds.

“Oh, I know. I’m sure Dr. Ziegler is going to have a lot on her hands trying to keep everyone from swarming me.” 

“She’s probably gonna make me take a vow of silence to buy more time. “ Jesse agrees.

“She’ll start a wait list for people to see me.” 

“Pfft,” Jesse snorts, trying not to laugh outright. “There’ll be a line.”

“And a time limit too. ‘Five minutes per meeting’,” She mimics the doctor’s voice. “It’ll be like speed dating.”

They laugh together over that.

“S--speed--speed hospital visiting.” Jesse wheezes, slapping his knee. “I’m sure everyone will wanna try it.”

“Hello, I like yoga, long walks on the beach, and currently I’m using a bedpan.” Hana mimes reaching out to shake the hand of some invisible suitor. They laugh harder. Lúcio mumbles and shifts in his sleep, causing the two to quiet.

“He really does sleep like a log.” Hana giggles. Jesse smirks.

“Sleeps like a log, snores like a lawnmower, more like. And I thought I was bad.” 

“And how would you know? You’re in the other wing of the-- _ ooooh _ \--”

Jesse immediately starts fumbling over words, face going ruddy.

“Now, now, it ain’t what you think--”

“ _ Hanzo _ ’s room is  _ right _ next to Lúcio’s! I knew it--”

“Listen here ya little anklebiter this ain’t--”

“--I mean half the base was taking bets, the way you two trained together and talked together, the whole tomato sandwich debacle--”

“Okay, just because we-- _ wait-- _ the base was  _ bettin’ _ \--”

“--And then there’s the stuff Lúcio can catch you muttering in Spanish that he can kind of translate and the stuff that I’ve heard Hanzo saying in Japanese even though I’m a little rusty--”

“Hana it’s  _ not like that _ !” Jesse snaps finally, stopping her in her tracks. He looks far more tired and worried now than anything else--Hana’s hit some kind of nerve. The cowboy looks away, hunkering down in his seat. “At least...not right now.”

_ Not right now? _ Hana wants to scream in frustration. There’s obviously  _ something _ still up with Hanzo, but everyone’s dodging it. She forces herself to stay calm.

“Nobody’s told me what’s going on with him.” She says quietly. Jesse’s head whips over to look at her. “Lúcio and Angela have both said he’s fine ‘for the most part’. But they won’t tell me anything else! I know those were his dragons that night, it’s not like they can pretend that’s  _ not _ why I’m like this--but I’m okay now! Well, kind of. I just want to know what’s going on.”

Jesse stares at her helplessly for a minute, then sighs and bows his head.

“I...he...he hasn’t been doing well. He’s been real torn up about what happened. And believe me when I say that’s an understatement.”

“But it was an accident!” 

“Hana, you--I probably shouldn’t be tellin’ ya this, but--”

“I died. I know. But it’s not even Hanzo’s fault, not really. I...well, I did something stupid. I should have checked with you guys before running off and calling down another mech, especially since I lost my comm.”

Jesse shakes his head. “Just because it was an accident doesn’t change the fact that he thought you died--”

“What? What do you mean ‘thought’?” Hana frowns. Jesse struggles to find the right words.

“He--when your mech exploded, and all that went down, and Hanzo finally got you back to us, to the payload an’ all--he--he wasn’t in good shape. You flatlined probably--what-- _ seconds _ after that? He...he passed out thinkin’ you were dead. And woke up thinkin’ it too. Man was damn near hysterical. Wouldn’t even believe us when we told him you weren’t--thought we were lyin’ to him. And when he finally realized you were alive he just...he shut down. Me n’ Genji seem to be the only ones to get through to him. Gotta tell him to eat, gotta tell him to sleep. He hardly talks anymore. Genji’s had to stop him from just leaving altogether. He’s been takin’ it all out on himself, he’s been blaming himself so hard for what happened…” Jesse trails off softly, head falling into his hand.

“W-wha--Hanzo’s not like that!” Hana manages, almost reeling from the information. She can’t seem to reconcile it with the image of the stoic, uppity archer in her head. “He shouldn’t  _ be _ like that. W- _ why _ is he like that?”

“Kiddo, can you really expect anything different?” Jesse says, shrugging helplessly. “I wouldn’t be in my right mind either if you got caught in my crosshairs, no matter how much of an accident it was.”

“Would you stop eating?” Hana presses angrily. “Would you stop talking? This is not okay! I mean--has--” she falters “--has he even come to visit me?”

“Considerin’ the fact that he’s been blaming himself to high hell for the state you’re in, I don’t think seein’ it in person helps matters.” Is all Jesse says.

“Do you think he’ll come see me now that I’m awake?”

Jesse shakes his head solemnly.

“I wouldn’t bet on it, kiddo. In all likelihood he probably thinks you’ll hate him for what happened.”

Hana screams through her teeth in frustration, even though it promptly sends her into another coughing fit.

“Hey, hey, take it easy, sweetheart.” Jesse croons hoarsely as he rubs her shoulder. She reaches for the glass of water and gulps the rest of it down. 

“I’m sorry, Hana.” He murmurs. “I shouldn’t have told ya any of this.”

“I just want to understand  _ why _ .” Hana rasps, still coughing a little. Jesse retreats and hums softly.

“I...I think…it’s got somethin’ to do with Genji. The way--but--the--look, it ain't really my place to say. Genji can explain it better. You should ask him.” He says eventually, with great reluctance. Hana frowns with suspicion.

“Will  _ he _ come to visit?”

“Oh darlin’, I'm sure he will.” Jesse smiles, finally being able to assure her of something. “To be honest I think he's been handling what happened the best outta all of us. I know he's stopped by a few times, although mostly to drag this lard ass outta here,” he jabs a finger at Lúcio teasingly, prompting a small giggle from Hana, “He’s got a lot of faith in yer recovery.”

“You  _ all _ should.” Hana pouts matter of factly, and if she thought it wouldn’t hurt to move that much she’d cross her arms. Jesse tips his hat in apology.

“Well, it takes a lot out of a person to see someone they care about as--well, pardon my phrasing--fucked up as you were.”

“You don’t have to pull your punches.” Hana says. “I know I was probably a mess. And I still am. No more selfies for a while, lol.” 

“At least someone ‘round here can make light of it.” Jesse chuckles in return.

“It’s like Doc always says! Laughter is the best medicine!” Hana chirps. They do share a laugh over that until Angela walks back in, clearing her throat. 

“Oh my god it’s like I summoned her.” Hana deadpans, prompting Jesse to stifle a snicker. Dr. Zeigler eyes them both unamused.

“I said ten minutes and I meant it, you two. And I don’t know what you two were talking about but don’t think I didn’t hear that coughing fit young lady.” She says sternly, hands on her hips. Hana rolls her eye.

“Okay mom.” She huffs, earning another snicker from Jesse. Angela only sighs, and waves for Jesse to move. The man obeys, but not before giving Hana a quick kiss on her forehead.

“It’s good to have you back, kiddo.” He says before turning to Angela with a wry grin. “I take it you want me to keep mum about this?”

“For the love of God,  _ please _ .” The Doctor huffs exasperatedly. “And can you please take Lúcio with you?”

“As the doctor orders.” Jesse chuckles, heading over to the other side of the bed. “C’mon ya lug.” He hefts Lúcio over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry (Hana wishes she had some way to capture the moment). Lúcio mumbles something along the lines of “Genji, no” and “mais cincos minutos”. Jesse rolls his eyes before saluting the two women and taking his leave.

Hana eyes the doctor sidelong.

“How much time do you think that gets us?”

“If we’re lucky,” Angela sighs, “minutes.”

Hana laughs, but even she’d admit there isn’t a lot of energy in it. Truth to tell, despite being awake for only so short a time, she’s quite tired.

It doesn’t escape the doctor’s notice.

“You don’t have to push yourself so hard so soon, liebling.” Angela says tenderly, heading over to the machinery Hana is hooked up to and adjusting something on the screen that Hana can’t see. 

“I didn’t think I’d get tired so--o quickly.” Hana mumbles around a yawn. The movement alerts her to a startling amount of pain in her jaw when she stretches it and she groans.

“Your body is still healing, so things are going to be slow for awhile,” Angela tells her, “baby steps.”

“That’s going to drive me insane.” Hana says matter-of-factly as the doctor lowers her back down so she’s no longer elevated. Her eyelid feels heavy. She can’t feel the other one, and faintly hopes that’s not a permanent thing. She’ll have to ask Dr. Zeigler about her injuries next time she wakes up.

“It does to most.” Angela concedes, caressing the side of her face gently. “But you will be up and about in no time, I’m sure.”

Hana nods and mumbles something, but even she can’t decipher what she says before she sinks into sleep.


	3. Second Family Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what y'all are sensitive to but second paragraph is a description of injuries (not graphic)

It  _ is _ slow going. For the better part of three days Hana barely wakes up for more than an hour, a few times a day. But she makes sure to absorb as much as she can and do as much as she can when she is.

She convinces Dr. Zeigler to tell her the full extent of her injuries, which are, well,  _ extensive _ . She has two broken shins, the right slightly more shattered than the left; a broken right wrist and forearm; numerous broken ribs, including two fragments that had pierced her lung (that has thankfully been taken care of); lacerations across her chest, stomach--almost her entire front--arms, legs, and face (when she sees those ones in a mirror she jokes about really being like Soldier: 76 now); akin to this, there are several burns all over her body, some especially nasty ones along her right side; a combination burn, laceration, and fracture in her right brow bone which had required reconstructive surgery (which explains the bandages over her right eye); this isn’t an injury, but as a result of the others her hair had to be shaved, and while it’s a little scary to only have a dusting of fuzz over her skull, she likes to think that when it grows in a little more it’ll be a cute buzzcut; a nasty concussion (healed by now); a broken jaw (mostly healed); several dislocated limbs (also healed); and a spinal fracture that would have paralyzed Hana for good if not for several surgeries.

Hana makes sure to thank the doctor profusely for saving her life. Angela waves it off as just being a part of her job, and Hana knows she is simply happy that Hana is alive to thank her.

Apparently Jack and Reinhardt argue so vehemently as to who gets to visit her first that Angela lets them visit together. It works out in the end, as the old soldier seems far less willing to give Hana a stern scolding over her actions in the field with the big bear of a Reinhardt towering over him. Although said big bear of a Reinhardt cries at the first joke Hana cracks about her recovery. Of course Ana has to drag them both out by the ears to give Hana a break, not without herself wishing the girl a speedy recovery, with not a doubt in her mind that she’ll bounce back stronger than ever.

It’s a joint effort between the two to get Angela to allow Jamie to visit Hana, and it involves promises of empty pockets and absolutely  _ no _ touching of  _ any _ machinery in the medbay, as well as a shower on Jamie’s part (that almost breaks the deal, but Hana persuades the junker it wouldn't be that bad). The poor man fidgets endlessly when he talks to her though, enough that she rips off a part of her hospital gown for him to fiddle with. It helps greatly.

“Roadie sends his well-wishes.” He grins. “At least, I think he does. I think he was gonna make cookies for ya until the doc said ya wouldn’t be able to eat solid foods fer a while.”

“Well, tell him I said thank you for the thought.” Hana smiles. To be honest, the large man is a little intimidating, and not very talkative, but Hana hasn’t let that stop her from trying to be friends with him. He seems to tolerate her more than most, at least.

Jamie brushes it off when she inquires about his health.

“Dr. Zeigler told me you had to have surgery!” Hana insists.

“Ehhh, I maaaaay have taken a bullet to the joint,” He rolls his arm around, emphasizing where the prosthetic meets skin; he thumps his prosthetic leg, saying nonchalantly, “but I’ve had worse.”

“I just worry about you guys, that’s all.” Hana shrugs, ignoring the tired muscles that pull. “I wasn’t the only one on that mission.”

“Pah, ya shouldn’t worry mate,” Jamie waves it away again, “We’re all--we’re all tip top!”

Hana latches onto the fumble, and while Jamie initially tries to smile as if there hadn’t been any hesitation in his words, he eventually waffles under her stare.

“Ya...ya know about Hanzo then, I reckon?” He mumbles. When Hana nods, Jamison huffs in exaggerated exasperation.

“He’s gone off his rocker, if I do say so myself.”

“Jamie, be nice!” 

“What! I’m bein’ honest!” The junker raises his hands in surrender. “He hasn’t been his weirdo self since yer accident.”

“He blames himself for it.” Hana sighs. 

“Oh no, that I understand. But, well I dunno, it’s like he’s gone off the deep end doin’ it.” Jamie says. “Doin’ that to you really made him freak somethin’ terrible.”

The look in his eyes gives Hana pause.

“How so? To be honest, I still can’t picture someone like him freaking out like that.”

“You didn’t hear the stuff he was screamin’.” Jamie murmurs, looking off, dare Hana say it,  _ hauntedly _ .

“What? He was screaming? What was he screaming?” Hana presses with alarm. She can tell Jamie wishes he hadn’t dug this hole for himself, but he’s in it now.

“I--I mean, really Hana, it’s--” Jamie stammers, “It’s--I mean, it was hard to understand. But all of a sudden his comm came back and he was screamin’ yer name, sounded like he’d lost his wits. We couldn’t get through to him, he was screamin’ his head off and couldn’t hear us. We got hit with a wave of security bots, so we got distracted then until he called us for Mercy. But we were still bein’ hit hard, so he had to bring you to us. But he wasn’t in his right mind out there. He--it was a mess of languages, I could hardly understand it all.”

“That doesn’t really answer my question?” Hana wheedles.

“It doesn’t? It--I--I suppose it doesn’t.” Jamie seems to sink in his seat. He doesn’t want to tell her any of this, Hana can tell. But she just wants to  _ know _ . 

“A lot of it was just yer name, over and over again. Every now and then there’d be an apology, or he...he’d be begging you to stay alive. And that was what I could understand, but I reckon he was sayin’ the same whenever he was speakin’ in yer language. But then he’d start goin’ off in Japanese. I don’t know what’d he be sayin’ but Genji had to talk him out of it, a lot. A couple of times...it...it sounded like he was callin’  _ you _ Genji.”

That makes her uneasy, enough that she changes the subject after that. Again, it has something to do with Genji. At the time of Jamie’s visit, the ninja hasn’t stopped by yet (at least, not while Hana is awake). But Hana doesn’t consider herself an idiot--it’s not hard to connect the dots. It’s still daunting to consider the question:

_ Is what he did to me the same thing he did to Genji? _

When not being visited, Hana works on trying to remember exactly what happened. Most of it is a blue, burning blur, and more than once it plagues her through a nap and she wakes up in a nervous sweat. But eventually she begins to pick out pieces and details. The weather, the wreckage, being carried, Hanzo’s words. Some of them she identifies in her home language, others in English, others in Japanese. The latter she only knows very little of, so more often than not in her memories they only come across as indecipherable gibberish. She hopes Genji can maybe help her translate.

Unfortunately by the end of the day Genji still hasn’t visited. Hana, however, does see  _ Hanzo _ .

It’s the middle of the night, when it happens. Hana shifts, waking up from a rather odd dream about fanged rabbits and boba tea. She blinks away her grogginess and against better judgement and screaming muscles props herself up on her left arm until she’s sitting up fully--she’s thirsty, and the glass of water perpetually by her bedside is just out of reach. She doesn’t notice her guest until she’s drank her fill.

He’s just outside the room, leaning against the far wall, watching through the window of the medical room. He seems to be gazing into the middle distance absently and--he looks  _ terrible _ . He looks thinner, haggard; the bags under his eyes are severe and his face is gaunt; his hair is unkempt and hangs loose; he’s wearing clothes that are not his own, possibly Jesse’s, that are wrinkled; and he has bandages around his hands and arms still, and possibly more hidden by his clothing.

Hana feels more relieved than she expected to see him. She grins encouragingly and waves to him.

“Hanzo!” 

He jolts back to awareness, having heard her faintly through the door. The darkness prevents Hana from seeing the exact expression on his face, but it doesn't matter. In the blink of an eye--literally--he’s gone. 

“Dammit.” Hana glares at her casted legs: she’d totally try to chase after him if she could. She debates calling up Athena to...well, she has no clue. Would Hanzo answer his phone? Would he listen to anyone Hana sent after him (presuming anyone else was even  _ awake _ because the clock reads close to three in the morning)? In the end she gives up and goes back to sleep; she dreams of living in a big house with a ghost in the halls she can never quite catch.

_ Wow _ . She thinks bitterly when she wakes up the next morning.  _ Such fitting. Very irony. _

Tracer is her first visitor of the day, shoving along a very reluctant Symmetra. Not that Satya didn’t want to visit; she was too nervous to. The archi-tech’s struggle to fit in and feel accepted by the rest of the group was something Hana had picked up on very quickly (and related to, in her own way) and had strived to help her with. Lena had also noticed this, and nowadays could be seen constantly by the Satya’s side, although Hana suspects that there's a deeper reasoning to it than that. The visit is surprisingly calm; the pilot, normally chattery and restless, is quieter. Hana attributes it to how worried Lena was for her survival. Satya is a little harder to read; Hana gets a stern chiding on unsafe battle tactics but at the same time Satya awkwardly produces a hard light rabbit that hops around Hana’s bed. It's so cute it makes her squeal. Regardless, she's touched by their thoughtfulness. 

Genji  _ finally _ visits in the late afternoon. Hana had convinced Dr. Zeigler to let her play some kind of video game, just to keep her occupied as she was awake for longer periods of time; it was a simple game on a holo screen she could play single-handedly, but still better than nothing. She turns it off though, as soon as she sees the ninja walk through the door, wearing a  _ stunning _ off-the-shoulder orange dress, no less.

“Look at  _ you _ !” Hana gasps happily, “You look  _ amazing _ !”

“Thank you, Hana.” Genji returns cheerfully, doing a little twirl to show it off. Hana whistles--or tries to--she settles for a little “Woo! Beautiful!”. 

“Where’d ya get it?” She then wheedles teasingly, narrowing her eyes. Genji immediately begins shifting from foot to foot,  _ bashful _ of all things. 

“Oh, I uh, it was a--he--”

“Lúcio! I  _ knew _ it!” Hana crows. She claps her hands together (which really is her patting her casted right hand gently). “I thought that package was odd for him, and he said it was for a birthday, too. I can't believe he planned it  _ months  _ in advance, the dork. I--”

She stops short, making the connection. She groans and sits back.

“Your  _ birthday _ , oh  _ no _ it was last  _ week _ \--”

“Hana, please,” Genji shakes his head, “Do not fault yourself for not being able to attend a party that was not thrown in the first place.”

Hana is still frowning.

“I feel terrible. I planned to get you something after we got back from the mission.”

“How about this?” Genji bargains, sitting down in the bedside chair on her left. “Your birthday gift to me is being here to talk to me at all.”

“Sap.” Hana retorts without fire. Genji shrugs.

“I wear the label with pride.”

“I’m still going to get you something.”

“I would protest, but I have a feeling it would be in vain.”

“It is futile to resist.” Hana nods solemnly. Genji laughs. As he shifts in his seat, the dress tugs, and the collar pulls down to reveal a jagged cut in the ninja’s chestplate.

“What is that!?” She cries, reaching out with concern. Genji immediately flinches and tugs the dress back up with a curse, hastily looking over his shoulder as if expecting someone to burst in. After a pause he sighs and turns back to her.

“My apologies. It is not anything critical, or even that harmful, but I know if Angela sees it, it will only sour her opinion of my brother further.” He explains.

“Hanzo did that?” She gasps.

“It was not his fault,” Genji sighs, “I was the one who lashed out in violence. He only acted in self-defense.”

“Please explain what happened between you two that caused  _ you _ to be the one lashing out violently.” Hana narrows her eyes at the ninja. Genji sighs again, looking away.

“I...I let my stress over your condition cloud my judgement. When Angela had to induce a coma to keep you alive, Hanzo was at his lowest point. He wanted to leave Overwatch, exile himself, destroy himself. The frustration with that compounded the stress I felt and I did not apprehend him in the most...diplomatic way. Jesse had to intervene.”

Hana curses under her breath in Korean. 

“All because of me…” She mutters bitterly.

“No, Hana--”

“It is!” She snaps, tears stinging the corner of her eye, “I was the one who did something stupid, I threw myself into danger without checking with anyone else! But now it’s like everything has gone to shit! And Hanzo’s just falling apart. And it’s because of  _ me _ !” 

She pauses, regaining her breath, staring down at her hands. She releases the question in one quiet exhale before she loses the courage to.

“Is it really because what happened to me was the same thing he did to you?”

There is silence. It stretches on for far too long and Hana thinks she may have crossed a line. But then she hears the click and hiss of exhaust. When she looks up, Genji holds his faceplate in his hands, but he looks at her. His gaze is torn. 

“Tell me the truth.” She murmurs.

“It was not necessarily the same.” Genji says. “Our fight was more extensive than that. But, it was, in essence, the killing blow.”

“So that’s why…”

“...Yes. When I found Hanzo, for the first time after all those years, I found a man who had--somewhat--recovered from his grief and regret, and had begun to redeem himself. Or at the very least, was starting to believe himself worthy of redemption, though I had to push him in that direction. But this...this is…”

Genji inhales. He seems unsure of whether or not to say this.

“I think this is a relapse.”

He stops, seemingly gathering his thoughts. Hana waits.

“What is happening, what Hanzo is doing to himself, has happened before. When he was carrying you back to us, in the aftermath, he devolved into a panic attack, into flashbacks of the night he killed me. I was the only one who could understand him, so I was the only one who could ground him. It wasn’t hard to determine that when we got back to base I was given a window into what Hanzo was like in the immediate aftermath of what he did to  _ me _ . To realize that was...in a word, conflicting.”

“You sympathize with the man who killed you, conflicting is an understatement.” 

“I sympathize with my brother.” Genji corrects, voice neutral. “They are one and the same. I have accepted that, and moved past it. There will always be a rift between us, that I cannot deny. But I believe Hanzo deserves to move past it as well. That is where the problem lies.

“After my death Hanzo abandoned our family, realizing, in his words, that he had gone too far for those who did not care, who only saw him as a manipulatable tool. He saw himself as a monster, a killer, and no better than, so that’s what he “let himself be”--an assassin for hire. I tried to convince him otherwise. I brought him to Overwatch to  _ prove _ him otherwise. I thought it was working. But after this, I fear...he has adopted that notion again. That he truly is irredeemable.”

“I’m sorry, Genji.” Hana says weakly. Genji meets her eyes, and he smiles sadly, and he reaches out to take her hand. 

“It is not something to apologize for, it is out of your control.” 

“I wish it wasn’t. I wish I could fix this.” Hana squeezes his hand. “I care about Hanzo, I care about you both, you guys--and everyone else too--you all are like a family to me. I…” Hana purses her lips. Unable to address the ache she feels towards everything she lost in her homeland, she changes lines of thought. “Hanzo was outside my room last night.”

“He was?” Genji leans forward eagerly, eyes hopeful. “Did he come in? Did he speak?”

“No.” Hana shakes her head. “He ran off as soon as he realized I was awake.”

“Still, that is something.” Genji says. “He is moving, he still cares. If he is coming here it means he may be working through it, however slowly. He’s reassuring himself that you are fine.”

“I smiled and waved at him, do think that’ll help too? If I reach out to him?” Hana asks.

“It shows you’re not upset with him, so yes.” Genji nods. “But, if he comes again, make sure to be...gentle.”

“Treat him like a frightened deer?”

“Not with that much fragility. It’s just, he tends to shut down when things are too overwhelming. He did it when we were younger too. Including more routine in his life helped him cope, but since the accident he’s been struggling again. Especially with being verbal.” The ninja explains. “I’m hoping that once you’ve fully recovered, it’ll add a sense of normalcy back and he’ll start picking up routines again. As for now though, sometimes...quiet, will be the best solution.”

“I understand.” Hana nods. She squeezes his hand, and he squeezes in return. “Thank you for telling me all of this. I know it's personal.”   


“With everything that's happened, you deserved to know. I was just too scared to bring you into all of this. It’s not any kind of walk in the park when it comes to me and my brother. Nor was it ever meant to be your burden to bear.”

“But would you blame me if I wanted to help carry it? Just a little.” Hana shrugs. Then, softly:  「 _ For...my brothers _ ? 」

Genji grins, though his eyes are appraising.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

The grin doesn’t fall, even as he replaces his faceplate. His voice regains the stronger reverb when he speaks.

“I suppose we can’t expect anything less from our  _ imōto-san _ .”

And it clicks, in a second, hearing those same words in a different voice, in a different environment. Her head jerks up to the window, as if expecting Hanzo to be standing there to witness her realization. 

“Hana?”

She looks at Genji.

“Really?”

The ninja tilts his head, and she can hear the smile in his voice.

“Really.”

“Really really?” She cracks a smile.

The ninja’s voice falls flat. “Don’t.”

“Aw, c’moooon.” Hana teases.

“No, I’m still mad at you for that.” Genji tries to remain serious, but she can tell he’s fighting a chuckle.

“For what?” Hana says innocently. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Zenyatta wouldn’t stop making ogre puns for two months straight you know perfectly well what I’m talking about.”

“You say you’re mad but I think you secretly love it.” Hana giggles.

“I love it when it’s not coming from the mouth of my mentor.” Genji groans dramatically. “You have no idea what life was like when we first met, Hana.”

“Oh, it was torture.” Hana nods, having heard Genji’s “plight” many a time. “The never ending deluge of jokes and omnic humor that plagued you day and night for ages and  _ ages _ .”

“You mock me Hana,” Genji jabs a finger at her, “but I assure you it was real and terrible.”

“Uh-huh, sure.” Hana rolls her eyes. She reaches out and taps his shoulder. “Until he wiggled his way under your hard metal exterior and found the squishy dork underneath.”

“I won't deny the squishy, but I'm not a dork.” Genji’s voice carries his pout. 

“I gotta take Hana’s side on this,” Lúcio’s voice chimes in, the musician skating by for a visit of his own. “You--”

He falls completely silent and still as his eyes fall on Genji’s dress. Hana swears the heat in the room notches up ten degrees.

“You--uh--you’re, you’re wearing it.” Lúcio manages.

“I told you I loved it.” Genji points out, but he shifts awkwardly. 

“And he looks amazing in it, Lu.” Hana chimes in, grinning. “You’ve got a good eye.”

“Psssh, nah,” the musician tries to brush it off, scuffing his heel, “it's just--I knew you liked the color--and the style--it was nothing-- _ uh _ \--what I mean to say is--you--y-you look good.”

“Ah, thank you.”

The awkwardness in the room is almost stifling. Hana had no idea these two men, who would separately  _ irradiate _ confidence, could act so helpless around each other. It’s hilarious, but silly. Hana rolls her eyes. They’ll figure it out eventually.

“I missed you guys.” She says before she even realizes she’s thinking it. Suddenly it's like a barrier crashing to the ground, the actual reality of how long she was out, of how scary it all was. Even she had to admit she’s never had such a close call before. “I really missed you guys.” A whisper.

“Hey, we missed you too  _ coelho _ .” Lúcio perches on the side of her bed, close to Genji. “But we’re all together now.”

Hana doesn't want to acknowledge that reality, of almost not being together, ever again. She doesn't want to feel it all, not right now--in a perfect world, not ever. So she does what she’s practically perfected for her fans: she shoves it down and puts on a show.

“We’re all together now,” She smiles. “So that means we can get back to what I missed the most: me kicking your ass.”

Lùcio gasps, utterly offended. 

“Kicking  _ my _ ass? You've got another thing coming sister.” He begins to scooch onto the bed a bit more as she fires up the game. 

Genji remains quiet; she can feel him staring at her. He doesn't say anything, in the end. But his hand snakes its way behind Lúcio’s back; she reaches up to take it. It goes unspoken between them, but understood. If and when she needs to talk about it, he’ll be there.

And they'll figure out a way to help Hanzo too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish I could say it's all uphill from here, buuuuuuut....
> 
> anyways u will pry autistic Hanzo from my cold, dead hands


	4. Second Family Part Two

As Angela said, it’s baby steps. And as Hana said, it drives her insane. It takes another whole week before she’s deemed well enough to get out of bed. And of course, she's still restricted to a wheelchair. But she takes what she can get, anything to see something other than the four walls of the medbay private room.

Lúcio takes pity on her and switches to his wheelchair from his prosthetics to help teach her how to use it. Hana won't say it, but it helps her feel less alone. Not only that, he helps her see all the ways it's  _ not _ restrictive at all.

Angela does put a stop to their wheelchair races very quickly though. 

Other than that, and the daily grueling physical therapy, she’s back. And honestly, that’s enough. Again, it hits hard how much she missed everybody, and how they’d all become a second family for her. She almost finds herself crying over dinner the first night she gets to eat with them again, but she holds back when she sees that one empty seat next to McCree. Not everyone is back yet. 

She tries to follow McCree after dinner, discreetly, but even though she’s yards behind and silent as the night he catches her.

“I know you wanna see him, sweetheart.” The gunslinger sighs, not even turning. “But it’s baby steps with him too.”

Hana frowns, but relents. 

“Have you been telling him that I don't hate him?” She asks instead. “That I'm not mad?”

“I've been trying to all along, Hana. I'll try again tonight.”

“Tell him I said it personally: I'm not angry...and I miss him.”

McCree smiles over his shoulder sympathetically.

“Will do.” 

Hana distracts herself for the rest of that night by letting Ana help work on her hand-eye coordination with her now monocular vision. Her right eye will be fully healed soon enough, but it can't hurt to know in case something ever goes wrong again. Angela enforces a strict bedtime though, and even Ana can't persuade the doctor to let Hana stay up later.

Most of the time she's too tired to argue by that point anyway. It’s easy to forget that she’s still recovering.

Another week passes, and Hana’s right arm finally heals up enough to take the cast off. There's still restrictions on the video games she can play, but Angela incorporates it into her physical therapy. Throughout this time, Hana sees Hanzo an approximate ten times. She catches him out of the corner of her eye, but he's usually gone before she can even call out to him. Most of the base corroborates her sightings--apparently the archer flits around like a ghost if not isolating himself somewhere. 

“He almost scared me to death one time, I almost shot him.” Mei recounts guiltily. “I couldn't even apologize before he disappeared. He's so quick and quiet.”

“We were trained to be.” Genji shrugs. Mei doesn't respond past a worried frown.

Almost everyone treads lightly when they talk about Hanzo. If Genji hasn't told them, they’ve at least all figured out a vague understanding of why Hanzo is like this. They also know it's none of their business; they also know that if they comment on it too blithely McCree will come for their hide.

“It ain't fair to say stuff like that.” He growls to Hana one day, after snapping at Zarya (apparently  _ again _ ). Hana placates the man slightly by coercing him to play a co-op game with her. 

“It ain't like half the base is the perfect picture of mental health.” He continues irritably, waving the game controller, “I mean damn, just because someone’s  _ been  _ better doesn't mean they can't suddenly get bad again. And I can't just let it be, either, he doesn't deserve that! It ain't right to be alone when in you're in that state of mind, and it ain't safe.  _ I speak from experience. _ ” He spat at the doorway Zarya had long since marched off through. Hana reaches back and touches his knee gently, and the man deflates back into the couch. He runs his free hand over his mustache repeatedly though, belying his settled state. He’d had to shave his usual beard to disguise himself for a mission (and dye his hair, it’s a dark burgundy color now), his beard is still far from back now, so the (comical, in Hana’s opinion) mustache remains until he can style it properly. Hana spares a thought to her own hair, short and fuzzy, growing in. She discards it to return her attention to McCree, who’s still talking.

“ _ Excuse _ me for being able to empathize, even if it's just a little.” Jesse’s staring at the TV screen, not registering what's on it. “You think I don't blame myself after I watched the HQ, my damn  _ home _ , go up in flames? You think I don't hate myself for running away? Because if I hadn't Gabe might still be--”

His voice catches in his throat. His eyes finally refocus when Hana takes his shaking hands in hers. His left hand has almost dented the controller.

“Sorry. Those are my problems, not yours.” He murmurs. Hana shakes her head.

“I get it. I blame myself too, you know.” She says, quickly so she doesn’t stop herself. She keeps going and suddenly it's like she can't stop. “Joining the MEKA program was great and all,  _ is _ great and all. I’m proud to have protected my country. But when we got drafted, we weren’t just e-sport champions anymore, we were soldiers. We had orders, and orders were orders. And...our orders were to guard the coast. Guard the major population hubs. The standard military was supposed to handle anything that attacked the smaller towns, the suburban areas. It went unspoken that it was never supposed to get that bad. But of course it got that bad. And,” Her breath hitches, she swallows and forces herself to continue, “orders were orders. Guard the cities. I couldn’t…”

She trails off, steels herself. She stares at her hands because she knows if she looks anywhere else she won’t be able to continue. She makes sure her voice is steady when she speaks again.

“Every day I wonder what would have happened if I broke from orders, and went for my home town. I wonder if I would have been able to save everyone, anyone. My father.”

Again she pauses, breathes in, breathes out. She lets go. She looks up.

“So yeah,” She says, “I guess that’s why I don’t always listen to orders very well. And why I don’t get along so well with Jack.” 

Jesse doesn’t say a word, but the empathy in his gaze is a comfort. Still, Hana feels drained, washed out and hung to dry. She reaches for the couch, voice quiet.

“Please can you help me up?” 

He gently lifts her up out of her wheelchair so she can sit on the couch. Hana cuddles up next to him, and tentatively he reaches his arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer. He’s warm. She doesn’t cry into his shirt. 

“You didn’t have to tell me that, kiddo.” He says after a while of her not crying. She doesn’t sniffle and starts up the game.

“You told me your prison story, I told you mine. ‘S only fair.” She says. He chuckles weakly.

“Besides, I know I've got to let it out sometimes, even if I don’t want to. And it’s...someone should know I didn’t just run back out there and do something stupid because I  _ am _ stupid. At least, not all the time.” Hana adds. She expects him to protest and say she’s not stupid at all, like everyone else does. He doesn’t. Quietly they scroll through their separate character selection screens.

“And I try to look on the bright side, all the time. I really do.” She says. “Everything I do now, it’s for my father, in his memory, and for everyone I lost. And everyone I haven’t lost, like my dad, and my fans, and...you guys.” 

She nudges Jesse lightly with her head. He hums and rubs his hand over her fuzzy scalp. 

“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with lettin’ it all out. When everyone’s been through a lot of similar shit, there’s no point not to.” He says.

“We’re all just a bunch of people who’ve done a lot of shit, trying to do better.” Hana says definitively. Jesse rumbles with quiet laughter. 

“You can tell that one to Hanzo.” She adds pointedly. She smiles, feeling a bit more like herself. “Wise Words from Hana Song: you’ve done some shit, now you’re trying to do better shit. Don’t stop. _Sangchu_.” 

Jesse glances down at her, laughter increasing.

“What does that last part mean?” He asks when he gets the air to.

“Never give up.”   


He immediately narrows his eyes with suspicion.

“It means ‘lettuce’, don’t it?” 

“No it means ‘Never give up’.” Hana says innocently. Jesse only continues to laugh and shake his head.

“Sure. I’ll pass it along.” 

“Good. You...you chose him only because he’s the edgy goth one, didn’t you?” Hana makes a face at the character Jesse’s chosen. 

“He reminds me of someone.” Jesse grins unashamedly. “And they don’t really have any cowboys on here. Travesty.”

“Miracle.”

They fall into a comfortable banter, and they end up playing the same game for three hours straight. Angela chastises both of them when she catches them, Hana for over-working her still healing wrist and arm, Jesse for not stopping her. They share a look through the scolding and both know it was worth it.

The next day Jesse and Genji tell her in good humor about what happened when Jesse  _ actually _ relayed her wise words along.

“... ‘That means “lettuce”’,” Genji lowers his voice to mimic his brother’s. The other two snicker.

“No, it means ‘never give up’.” Jesse says with a shit-eating grin.

“And he turns to me and goes ‘Genji, tell him it means “lettuce”,” The ninja says, “So I turn to him and say, ‘Hanzo, it means “never give up”!’  _ Immediate _ response: ‘I hate both of you’.”

All three break down into laughter.

“That sounds just like him!” Hana gasps through her peals. Genji nods emphatically. 

“Exactly! It does, it--it did.” Genji finally calms, and Hana can practically feel the joy effusing from the man. “He’s getting better.”

“He’s eating on his own.” Jesse agrees. “Your wise words must actually be getting through to him.”

“ _Sangchu_.” Hana nods solemnly. They break into laughter again. They’re all overjoyed.

_ Maybe I’ll even see him before the week is out.  _ She thinks to herself.  _ It’s all looking up _ .

She should have known better than to jinx herself. That feeling doesn’t last. It doesn’t even last twenty-four hours. She can hear Jesse yelling from her room the next morning and she immediately stiffens with dread. She wheels out into the hall to see Jesse storming down the hallway angrily, Lúcio trying to follow him.

“Slow down, man,” The musician cries. “Where’s Genji?”

“Where do ya think? Trying to make sure that frustratin’ sunovabitch don’t vamoose!” Jesse snaps, running his hands through his hair.

“You left them alone? You remember what happened last time!”

“I’m  _ aware _ ,” The cowboy grits, slowing down a bit. “I just--I just needed to get some air. I’m too stressed, I’m too worried.”

“Genji said he was better yesterday.”

“Yeah, he’s been getting better, but he’s still convinced he should leave.” Jesse explains. “Now we’re not sure if he’s pretending he’s okay just so we’ll let him go.”

“If he is, I get that,” Lúcio says, voice strictly neutral, “But what if he isn’t? What if he’s really okay and just needs to travel for a bit?”

“I really want that to be the case, Lúcio, I really do.” McCree huffs, running his hands down his face. “If I thought it’d be safe I wouldn’t be trying to make him stay. But everything he’s said leads us to believe that  _ he _ believes he doesn’t belong here. Me and Genji are both worried that means he’ll start messing in dirty work again. That could pit him against us on a battlefield...I don’t think Genji can handle that. I don’t think  _ I _ can handle that.”

“...He might not.” Lúcio rests a hand on the man’s shoulder. 

“I know. But he might. And even if he doesn’t, there’s still the chance he…” Jesse’s voice is weak, “He might not come back. And I know it’s selfish but I don’t wanna risk it. I wanna keep him here dammit, I...I love him Lu. I don’t want to let him go.”

Jesse brushes off Lúcio’s hand after that, walking off out of Hana’s sight. She quietly wheels back into her room. If that didn’t convince her to take her own course of action, Genji’s fight with Angela later that afternoon definitely did.

“Have you not considered the fact that maybe your brother _doesn’t_ belong here?” Angela asks hotly. Genji immediately stops his pacing in the recreation room and stiffens. The tension in the room triples.

“No, because I know that is not true.” Genji says firmly, calmly keeping his arms folded behind his back, but Hana’s pretty sure everyone can hear the broiling anger underneath. “He belongs here, in Overwatch, with us.”

“I’m sorry but how can you still believe that?” Angela cries, “He’s still hurting you, even now!” She gestures emphatically to the now two gashes in Genji’s chestplate (Genji hadn’t been able to hide them from her this time). 

“Come on, Doc, it’s not the same.” Lúcio tries weakly, but it goes completely ignored.

“These are not his fault,” Genji hisses, “They are due to my lack of restraint! Hanzo rightfully responded in self-defense. I will not fault him for that!”

“What about things that aren’t physical? Look at how you two are fighting now, and you both still fight regardless! When you responded to the recall, that was the happiest and healthiest I’ve ever seen you. But now with him here I see you getting angry again, even before this incident.” Angela argues. She’s very worried, and she cares about Genji, it’s obvious, but even Hana wheels back a little from the battleground the doctor is creating. 

“You seem to be unaware of how a sibling relationship works.” Genji says coldly.

“Can you even call him that, after what he’s done to you? After the reckless decisions he’s made, on the battlefield and otherwise?” 

“ _ Yes I can, Dr. Ziegler _ .” Genji shouts, finally at the end of his rope. He steps towards her almost threateningly, arms down and fists clenched. Lúcio and Zenyatta immediately start for him, but he stays mostly still as he continues to yell. 

“You may be my physician, and the woman who saved my life, but you are  _ not _ my protector. You do not decide what is best for me. I have let your negative opinions of my brother slide, but it seems I cannot do so any longer. Like it or not, I have made my peace. I have seen what my brother has gone through, in terms of penance and redemption, and having now fully understood both sides of what happened, _ I have forgiven him _ . I have decided to help him with his own struggles because as you can see  _ he still struggles _ . And he will continue to struggle if he is surrounded by people who spew the same toxic poison that he throws at himself day in and day out!”

Steam hisses from the vents in his shoulders, and his heavy breathing is audible. 

“My student…” Zenyatta murmurs, reaching for him, but Genji brushes him off aggressively. 

“I brought him here to help him.” He’s still addressing Angela, who’s gone pale. “I brought him here so he could recover properly, as this place once gave me the chance to do so. But if it won’t,” He straightens, voice chilling down to ice. “Then perhaps you are right. He doesn’t belong here.”

Stiffly, all of his rage contained, he stalks out of the room. On his way out, he pauses right as he’s next to Angela. 

“And neither do I, as my place is  _ by his side _ .” He spits. He exits without another word. Much of the tension leaves with him.

“What the hell, doc?” Lúcio is the first to speak, crossing his arms.

“I’m just trying to help.” Angela huffs, though her voice is much quieter than before. She heads towards the door, as if to follow after Genji, but Lena races forward and stops her. 

“Woah woah woah, love. I know you wanna help, but maybe let him cool down first, yeah?”

“Look at him, he’s driving himself in circles because of this. He’s hurting, I can’t just let him continue to be hurt--”

“That is commendable, Doctor.” Zenyatta reassures her, “But I believe you are viewing this conflict from one side.” 

“If I am, then I’m viewing it from the most important one.” Angela looks at the omnic disdainfully. 

“Look, Angela, we all get that you really don’t care about Hanzo,” 76 heaves himself off the couch and walks over to her, “and that you really care about Genji. I’m inclined to agree with you. But the monk’s right. You’re not looking at this objectively.”

“And I know you hate it, Angie,” Fareeha says, stepping forward herself, “But Genji’s right.”

Hana doesn’t hear the rest of the conversation; she’s quietly wheeled out into the hallway. It takes her a moment of thinking to figure out where Genji might go if he’s this upset--probably somewhere a little unorthodox, to avoid being bothered too much. That in mind, she heads for the main entrance of the base, towards the woods where Bastion lives. 

It surprisingly doesn’t take her long to actually catch up with Genji; he’s not even outside yet. He’s purposefully walking slowly, steam still hissing from the vents in his shoulders.

_ He’s trying to hold it all in _ . Hana winces.

“Genji--” She calls. In retrospect, maybe she should have said something else, in Korean or otherwise. In his current mental state he easily mistakes her for Angela.

“ _ Do not follow me, Doctor. _ ” Genji roars, turning on his heel and launching a shuriken. Hana immediately ducks, although she doesn’t need to: it wedges in the ceiling, it was a warning shot. Nonetheless Genji gasps as soon as he realizes his mistake.

“Hana!” He runs to her, cups her face in his hands as soon as she looks up at him. “Are you alright? I’m so sorry!”

He crouches to her level and practically rips his faceplate off so he can look at her eye to eye. His eyes are red and puffy and Hana realizes that he’d been crying throughout his entire tirade. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” She reassures him, reaching out and pulling him into a hug. “I’m okay, you didn’t mean it.”

He holds her tight, shaking. 

“I’m so sorry. I couldn’t control myself. My emotions are consuming me.” He mumbles into her shoulder.

“It’s okay. You’ve been bottling it all up inside.” Hana says. She rubs the sides of his neck where the plating is smooth. “I’m surprised Zenyatta hasn’t yelled at you for that.”

“Zenyatta doesn’t yell.”

“You know what I mean.”

It's about a minute before Genji calms enough to continue.

“He’s worried about me, and rightly so. But there is nothing we haven’t already discussed. And he said he’ll support me in whatever decision I choose to make regarding Hanzo.” Genji says. Hana’s hands slow.

“...Will you really leave if Hanzo leaves?” She asks tentatively. He sighs and pulls away.

“I truly do not know. I suppose it partially depends on if he would accept my company. But I cannot promise anything.”

“Okay.” Hana nods, trying to keep her expression neutral. No luck.

“It would not be forever,  _imōto-san_. And rest assured I would keep in touch.” Genji smiles softly, rubbing her head. She smiles in return. 

Genji picks up his faceplate and replaces it, straightening to his feet. Hana notes how he’s still somewhat shaky.

“I’m sorry Hana. I don’t mean to keep burdening you.”

“You’re not.” Hana shakes her head. “We’re all on edge: You cried on me today, I cried on Jesse yesterday, Reinhardt cried on me a couple weeks ago…”

Genji does manage a chuckle.

“We’re all a support system for each other. That’s part of the reason you brought Hanzo here.” Hana continues.

“They would support him more if he would come down from the cliffs and let them.” Genji huffs. But he shakes his head and sighs. “I’m still upset. I need to be somewhere quiet for a while.”

Hana considers the information she's been given, and the plan she's concocting. She assumed Hanzo was hiding somewhere outside, and the bluffs along the side of the base were likely candidates. But she can't reach them in a wheelchair. Not on her own. 

“You were going to hang out with Bastion, right?” She asks. Genji nods.

“They let me meditate in their garden.”

“...Can I go with you?” Hana asks. “I won't bother you, I swear! I haven't seen Bastion very much since I got back.”

“I do not control your actions, Hana.” The ninja says. She pouts at his neutral response. He tilts his head, his gesture for a smile.

“You may accompany me, Hana. I would prefer my privacy, but I doubt you will impede it.” He says instead. Hana grins, satisfied with the response. She doesn't want him to close off again. 

Genji helps her wheel out to the forest surrounding a large portion of the base. Thankfully there's a trail through the trees that's easy enough for her to go through. And Bastion’s home is easy to spot.

It's honestly not much of a home, not for a human, anyway. There's a tarp set up along some tree branches, to provide shelter from the rain and such (though Hana knows the omnic can just come inside if they want, Bastion never seems inclined to, probably due to some of the anti-omnic sentiments of certain agents). Other than that, there really isn't much besides the flowers.  _ Many _ flowers.

Bastion has taken the clearing around them and cultivated it meticulously. Not many of the flowers are in bloom yet, this early in spring, but the ones that have are lovely. 

Cheery beeping greets Hana and Genji. Bastion pops out from behind a tree; behind them Hana can see a squirrel scurrying off. She smiles.

“Hi Bastion!” She waves. The omnic trots over, waving in return.

“Greetings, Bastion.” Genji nods. Bastion waves at him too. They beep some more, and Hana can decipher a questioning tone; they look between Genji and the base repeatedly. 

“Sorry, it is only me right now. I got in a fight...I needed some peace and quiet.” He explains. He's far better at reading body language than Hana is.

Bastion nods understandingly and gestures to the garden around them. 

“Thank you.” Genji bows his head. He nods at Hana. “Hana.”

He walks off with purpose--he must have his own spot. He vanishes around the other side of the tarp lean-to, where Hana knows the garden continues. Bastion and Hana watch Genji go, then the omnic turns to her.

They beep in a similarly questioning fashion. Hana smiles.

“I'm sorry, Bastion. I would have visited sooner, but it's hard to get out here without some help.” She says. Bastion nods. Then they start, as if remembering something. Quickly they gesture at her to follow them. She wheels after the omnic as they lead her to a part of the garden that's entirely new--but very familiar.

“Magnolias!” She cries, reaching for the green leaves. It's not in bloom yet, but she'd recognize them anywhere. Studying the plot, all of the plants she sees are ones she used to see all the time at home. Hibiscus, Iris, Aster, there's even a small Ginko tree that's been planted. Only the Iris plants are in bloom; she graces her fingers over the soft petals.

“This is the garden you and Zenyatta made for me?” She asks. Bastion nods eagerly. She looks back over the flowers. She remembers the trips her family used to take to the botanical gardens in Seoul, her father confiscating both her _ and _ dad’s handheld consoles so they could appreciate  _ nature _ for once. Hana suddenly finds herself sniffling. 

Bastion coos worriedly.

“It's okay,” She reassures them. “It...I'm so grateful, Bastion. I wish I'd come out here sooner. These, these flowers remind me of home. It's like a little piece of home right here with me. Thank you s-so much.” 

She reaches out to Bastion; unfortunately at Bastion’s towering height and her in a wheelchair she only manages to hug their leg. Bastion beeps and pats her shoulder gently. They’re by no means soft, but Hana doesn't care. Eventually she pulls back and wipes her eyes.

“Sorry I cried on you.” She says. Bastion shakes their head, unbothered. She looks back out over the plot.

“I hope you made sure none of these are invasive species.” She says. Bastion nods, and gestures with their hand around their neck--their gesture for Zenyatta. Bastion has been developing a modified form of sign language to fit their one hand, and had developed identifying signs for each member of Overwatch (since fingerspelling wasn't fast enough sometimes, and hard to understand for some). The gesture for her was a fist with the pinky and index finger extended, like bunny ears. She thought it was cute.

“Thank you both.” Hana smiles, patting Bastion’s leg. A sudden thought crosses Hana’s mind. “Has Hanzo been here?”

Bastion mimes drawing a bow and tilts their head in question.

“Yeah, Hanzo.” Hana nods. Bastion points to the garden and shakes their head. But then they point to themselves and then to the base. 

“You visit him?”

A nod.

“That's sweet.” She says, staring off in the direction Bastion pointed; she adds the information to her plan. “He doesn't chase you off or anything?”

Bastion shakes their head, beeping. 

“Good. I haven't been able to see him. He avoids most everyone, and most of the time he's on the cliffs. I can't get up there in a wheelchair.” Hana says.

Bastion coos sympathetically. Hana considers the omnic out of the corner her eye.

“Bastion, could you do me a favor?”

Bastion shrugs.

“...Do you think you could help me get up to the cliffs?” She asks tentatively. “So I can talk to Hanzo?”

Bastion looks between their gun and normal hand. They shrug again, but their posture is somewhat apprehensive. 

“I trust you, Bastion.” Hana assures them. They let off a string of beeps, glancing over their shoulder in the direction of Genji, but in the end they nod. 

Together they make their way back along the path towards the base, Bastion pointing out different birds and animals in the trees as they go. Hana’s quite surprised: the omnic is very observant; they really do have a knack for nature. Before they can walk through the main entrance of the base, though, Bastion beeps and walks in a different direction.

“Bastion? Where are you going?” Hana wheels after them tentatively. Bastion points to around the corner and beckons her over. Following them, Hana sees a dusty path, perhaps for maintenance, around the side of the base. It winds on a ways until it hits a metal stairway that continues up the side of the bluffs.

“Is this the way you usually go?” Hana asks. 

Bastion nods. Hana eyes the trail: it’s wide enough for Bastion, so it’s wide enough for her, though not both of them together. She wheels on though--no way in hell she’s turning back now. Bastion trods behind her.

That doesn’t mean she doesn’t swallow nervously when she reaches the stairway. It’s old and it shows. It hardly looks like it can hold  _ her  _ weight, let alone Bastion’s. But Bastion lifts her up so they’re carrying her safely, and begins walking up the steps without hesitation. 

“I really appreciate this, Bastion.” She says. They beep in reply, something Hana interprets as “no problem”. 

When they finally make it to the actual bluffs, Hana finds herself nervous again, but she squashes it down. Whatever happens, she’ll say her piece (not that she’s thought her piece through really). Nonetheless she scans the rocks with bated breath.

She hasn’t found him yet, but his voice rings out clear.

“I’m sorry Bastion. I do not desire your company today.” It’s hoarse, and laden with exhaustion, but upon hearing it Hana finally finds him practically tucked away in between the rising walls of the cliff. 

At the very least, it’s an improvement from when she saw him last. There are no longer bandages around his arms, his clothes are neat (and look more like his own, not Jesse’s), and his hair is tied up like it usually is. He kneels with his hands in his lap, eyes closed--he doesn’t realize she’s there.

Deep breath. Let’s do this.

“Thank you, Bastion.” She pats the omnic. She can see Hanzo freeze out of the corner of her eye, eyes shooting open in shock. “You can set me down here.”

Bastion carefully sets her down on the ground. They look between her and Hanzo and beep in question.

“It’ll be okay, Bastion.” She assures them quietly. After another nervous look they straighten and trod back down the stairs, leaving just Hana and Hanzo. 

And surprisingly enough, he speaks first.

“You shouldn’t be up here.” He says stiffly. He’s staring at the ground. She starts wheeling towards him slowly (out of a sense of caution over the uneven ground and wariness of chasing the man away).

“It’s a common sentiment.” She replies. “But you know I’m not one for following orders.”

“That is not always wise.” 

“And sometimes it is.” She counters. “And sometimes, it’s a fucking  _ accident _ .” 

Hanzo visibly flinches.

“...That doesn’t mean I can’t regret it.” He says finally. Hana huffs.

“Of course not! But there’s a difference between regretting and  _ stewing _ . You--”

“Hana, please.” Hanzo cuts her off, standing. He still won’t look at her. “Believe me when I say I have heard that ten times over. I do not need to hear it again from you.”

He starts to walk away, but she follows.

“Fine! I won’t.” She tries not to snap. “I’ll shut up. But you realize we say it again and again because we care about you, right?”

“I am aware.” It’s flat, emotionless. Hana frowns. 

“Aware is not the same as believe.” She sighs. “I know it’s hard for you, I get that. I really do. I get that it’s a slow thing, that sometimes it’s something only you can do in your own way. And maybe Jesse and Genji and me and Satya and most of us on this fucking base are being really really selfish when we say we want you to stay here, but we say it anyway. Because in the end, in our own ways, we love you.”

He pauses at that. Which is good, because she’s getting a little winded, and her voice is starting to thicken. And also good because by being still she can notice the almost imperceptible shake of his head, of disbelief. She shrugs helplessly.

“Well, at the very least I do. I don’t paint somebody’s nails for no reason.” She giggles, but it’s shaky. She watches Hanzo breathe deeply. 

And then skitter up the wall. 

“Hanzo!” She yells, wheeling forward--useless, she can’t climb up the fucking rocks. “Hanzo you get back here!” Thinking quickly, she adds, “I swear to god I will climb up this wall with upper body strength alone!”

That stops him. He’s still well over the edge of the wall, but she can hear his scuffling, his indication that he’s still nearby.

“Don’t do that.” She hears, faintly. 

“I fucking will and you know it. Just,  _ please _ , hear me out.” Hana wheels back, trying to see Hanzo. No luck, but at least she knows he’s there. For a moment she struggles with what to say, but in the end she takes a steadying breath and goes with whatever comes to mind first.

“I don’t remember much from that night. Definitely not all of it.”  _ Great, bring up what caused all of this, good job. _ “I remember you, though. I remember you holding me. I remember you talking in Korean, even though half of it didn’t make sense, your grammar is terrible, but I remember it making me feel better. Because I  _ do _ remember being scared. I  _ do _ remember all the pain. But you were there. You carried me back, you saved my life, you--you kissed me.” Her hand brushes over her forehead as the memory hits her like a train. She sniffs. “You cared. You called me  _ little sister _ .” 

Again it hits her hard, how much everyone here has become a second family to her. 

“Never had brothers,” She chokes out, rubbing her eyes even as she manages a smile. She shudders when she inhales. “I know I can’t control you. I know I can’t stop you if you do decide to leave. I know that the entire world could tell you they love you, but it still won’t mean anything because you just can’t see it in yourself. But this is me, showing you that it  _ is _ in you. You care, you do, you care so much about all of us. I don’t want you to forget that, if you leave. I want you to remember that you care. That you love. That you’re good. And that no matter how long you leave for, there’ll always be a home here for you. There’ll always be us. Here, waiting for you. There’ll always be me. Waiting to kick your ass in Smash Bros.” 

She slumps, finally having nothing more to say. She looks up the wall of rocks, listening for Hanzo, for any kind of sign that what she said got through to him. In the end, she hears nothing. She hears nothing for a good few minutes. 

_ You said your piece _ . She thinks to herself, quietly rolling back and turning around.  _ You’ve done all you can do _ . 

It doesn’t feel like a victory. 

_ At least you were right about seeing him before the week was out _ . She tries. It doesn’t work. She gets out her communicator--she’ll need someone to come help her down from here. 

“You’re wrong.”

She looks back. She can see him from where she is now, lying on his back a little ways from the edge of the wall he climbed. She wheels back around. 

“What do you mean?”

“You’re wrong.” He repeats. His own voice is shaky too. “I didn’t save you. You saved me.” 

She frowns in confusion. Thankfully, he explains.

“I lost my mind that night. I lost focus. We would both be dead if it weren’t for you.” He says simply, like a list of facts. “I still don’t know how you did it. You shot him before he could shoot me.”

Hana runs through what she remembers in her head. In the bits and pieces and progression of things she does remember a gunshot, but she had assumed it was Hanzo avoiding enemy fire. The more she thinks about it, though, the more she recalls the heaviness in her arm, the ache and the pain...in her firing arm. 

“I couldn’t even save you properly.” 

“But you still saved me, in the end. Now, I saved you too. We got out of that mess together. Which is fitting, because we got into it together.” Hana shrugs. She smiles sympathetically. “You know, there’s nothing anyone can ever say that’s gonna make me judge you for what happened. You did everything you were capable of to save me, and in the end, I’m still here--so fuck “properly”. You did it. We did it. That’s what matters.”

Hanzo falls silent again, and again, Hana heads for the door that actually leads into the base itself. 

“I’m sorry, Hana.”

“I’m sorry too, Hanzo.” She replies. Before she exits, though, her hand grips the doorway. It’s almost...trivial, but she can’t help but ask.

“If you really are going to leave, can you please come to dinner tonight? Before you go? You don’t have to talk, you don’t even have to eat. But please...I want you to be there.”

There’s no response, but she doesn’t expect one. She closes the door behind her and slumps in her wheelchair, eyeing the flights of stairs down into the base. She feels drained, even more so than when she vented to Jesse. But Hanzo listened to her. Which was reason to hope. She sends out a SOS message to Reinhardt with a smile on her face.

When the big man reaches her, he opens his mouth to question, but halts when he sees that smile still on her face. A smile creeps onto his own.

“Good news, lieb?” He asks. Hana shakes her head--she knows how much Reinhardt does care for Hanzo, and she doesn't want to get his hopes up. 

“He’ll probably still leave.” She says. “But I know he'll be okay if he does. Especially after tonight.”

“Ah, maybe that is not the good news we were hoping for, but that is still good news!” Reinhardt is undiscouraged. He hefts her onto his shoulder, steadying her with one hand, and picks up the wheelchair in the other. They chat cheerily about what dinner will be. Reinhardt promises not to tell anyone she was up on the cliffs.

The rest of the day can't go by fast enough. Hana bounces between activity after activity, game after game, too restless because try as she might she can't help but get her own hopes up. In the end, she can't keep it secret from Lúcio; he shares her enthusiasm, but keeps her grounded about her hopes: coming to group dinner might be too big a leap for Hanzo, after all this time. 

Nonetheless when dinner does roll around Hana is practically bouncing in her seat. She’s twitchy, she can’t keep her eyes still. She’s the first one at the table (so Ana makes her help set it), and she eagerly watches as everyone starts trickling in. 

Fareeha had helped Reinhardt and Ana cook dinner. Lena comes in first, chattering away, Satya by her side quietly listening. Then Jesse. Lúcio. Torbjorn and Brigitte, talking eagerly with Jamison. Winston. Mako, Mei, and Zarya. Genji, trailed by Zenyatta. Jack, finally, dragging Angela away from her work. 

… But no Hanzo.

Hana doesn’t let that deter her, and she sets the empty spot they’ve been setting the past few weeks. She sits next to said empty spot and goes about her dinner like nothing’s wrong. But even the smell of marinated steak doesn’t distract her from the glaring emptiness. She can’t keep her eyes off the doorway for long. She keeps telling herself that he’ll come, that he’s just hesitating, or running late. Even when dinner is switched out for desert. She knows she shouldn’t be so upset when Hanzo never arrives--it’s not like she made him promise, she didn’t demand this of him, it was a simple request.

But it still hurts, just a little (a lot).

Hana jumps when she feels a foot gently nudge her own. Lúcio is smiling sympathetically across the table at her. 

‘You did your best.’ He mouths to her. She sighs and nods. He encourages her to play video games afterwards, but she insists they play in her room. She feels a small modicum of comfort surrounded by her belongings--her consoles, her blankets and stuffed toys, the many  _ many _ photos lining the walls. Lúcio catches her staring at the one photo of Hanzo she has: it's a selfie her and Lúcio, with Hanzo running after Jesse in the background, both men blurry, with the caption "Cryptid Courting". Finally pulled away by the dilemma of game choices, Hana stays in her wheelchair, but Lúcio hops up onto her bed as they fire up the TV, legs dangling over the edge. She leans against his calf while they play.

Lúcio doesn’t comment on that, nor does he bring up Hanzo, nor does he say anything when Hana’s heart is very obviously not in the game. She appreciates that, honestly.

It’s far too late for either of them to be awake when something taps at the window.

“Was that a bird?” Hana looks over her shoulder, brow furrowed. Lúcio shakes his head.

“This time of night? No way. Maybe a rock? Sometimes bits of cliff-face break off on windy nights and hit my window.” He says. Hana shrugs and turns back to the TV. It’s a full minute before there’s another tap.

And successive taps. Like someone knocking. Lúcio and Hana exchange a glance.

“I absolutely do not have a good feeling about this.” He says, eyeing the window nervously.

“That’s just because we were playing Silent Hill.” Hana retorts, swallowing her own apprehension and wheeling over to the window. She can’t see anything outside of it, so she takes a breath and slides it open. 

Nothing. She frowns.

“Hello? Genji, is that you? I know you like climbing all over the base but it’s two in the morning and we just finished playing a horror game!” She calls, looking around. She catches something move out of the corner of her eye and she jumps, looking down.

It’s Hanzo.

He’s balanced on a rock ledge under her window, and in the faint light from her room she can see he’s looking off to the side awkwardly. He doesn’t look at her even as he offers up a small bag.

“I brought you snacks.” He says quietly.

Just as quietly Hana takes the bag, and glances inside it. Pocky, a box of zebra cakes, and a few bags of chips. She places it in her lap and looks back outside. He’s still there.

“I’m sorry.” He says. It could be about spooking them after playing a horror game, but Hana knows what it’s really for.

And honestly? This is better than him showing up to dinner. Hana smiles.

“Do you wanna play some games? It’s just me and Lúcio.”

He seems to think for a moment, then nods. Hana wheels away from the window, grinning at Lúcio, who looks very confused and concerned--he must not have heard Hanzo’s voice. 

“Fire up a third controller.” She tells him, rummaging through the bag and pulling out the box of pocky. She hears a quiet thump behind her and tries not to snicker at the way Lúcio jumps and squeaks in surprise. The musician quickly relaxes however, and waves at Hanzo with a small smile.

“Hey dude.”

Hanzo doesn’t seem up to much in terms of eye contact or facial expression, but he waves to Lúcio nonetheless. Once Hana re-situates herself in front of the end of her bed, and Lúcio hooks up a third controller, Hanzo quietly sits on the floor next to her. His shoulder presses up against the side of her armrest.

He doesn’t talk much for the rest of the night, but for the first time, Hana finally feels like he’s back. 

And when, the next morning (practically afternoon), she wakes up having been placed carefully in her bed, with a note that simply says “ _ I’ll message you” _ , she’s not dissuaded. When she hears from everyone else that aside from a few other notes to Genji, Jesse, and Winston, Hanzo’s gone without a trace, she’s not dissuaded. When, a few days later, she receives a text from a number she’s never seen before, she grins, and she’s not dissuaded.

Her family’s all back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congratulations! Angst train finally reached the station! (lmao)  
> This is technically the end of the fic, but on Monday I'll be posting an epilogue. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed me throwing my headcanons out into the world!


	5. Epilogue: Second Reunion

“Lúcio, _slow down_!” Hana shrieks, clinging to Lúcio’s shoulders. “We’re gonna run someone over!”

The two are laughing loudly when air allows them to, racing through the halls of the base on Lúcio’s skates.

“Hey, if they can’t keep up, they better stay outta our way!” He crows. Hana just laughs louder. Going this fast is exhilarating.

They do nearly run over Jack, though.

“ _Hey_!” The man yells, shaking his fist at them almost comically. “Don’t use your speed boost in the hall! You’re gonna hurt someone!”

“Sorry, we’re on a mission!” Lúcio calls over his shoulder, but they’ve already left the old soldier in the dust.

They make the aircraft hangar of the base in record time, hooting and hollering. Genji’s already at the far end, by the large open doors. Lúcio and Hana race over. Genji laughs as he watches them.

“That excited, huh?” He asks as Lúcio sets Hana down on the ground. He’s slightly winded, but she’s still bouncing on her feet.

“Of course!” She cries, looking out to the woods. She can’t make out a damn thing but she doesn’t care. “You said he was close by, right?”

“The last photo he sent me was in Bastion’s garden.” Genji nods. “He--”

“You damn speed demons, you _heathens_.” Jesse wheezes, jogging up to where they are. He’s red, sweaty and panting. Hana snickers.

“What, can’t keep up? Out of shape, _vaqueiro_?” Lúcio teases, skating a lazy circle around the man. Jesse lunges at him and drags him into a headlock.

“Eh? What was that? Yer not too tough to wrangle as long as I can catch up with ya.” He noogies the musician’s skull.

“Watch the ‘do!” Lúcio tries to swat at him with little success from his compromised position. Jesse cries out incredulously.

“Watch the  _‘do_? I hear one sentence from Hana saying my _partner_ ’s back and y’all race off like wild stallions with the high wind in yer manes and _I_ gotta _watch the ‘do_?”

Hana rolls her eyes and turns her back on the play fighting.

“You be careful with _my_ partner!” Genji shouts. He gets a raspberry in response. He huffs and turns as well.

“As I was saying,” He says, “Hanzo should be here any minute now.”

“Oooh, I can’t wait! I can’t wait to see what he looks like!” Hana bounces from foot to foot, clapping her hands. Genji eyes her, crossing his arms.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What, he hasn’t told you?”

“Hana, for the past eight and a half months, all my brother has sent me are pictures of his hand in different locations flipping me off.” He deadpans. “You know this.”

Hana laughs out loud.

“You’re the one who demanded he send you a daily update. You didn’t specify what it had to be.”

“I am aware.” Genji groans dramatically. “All I know is that when he was somewhere in Africa he painted his nails.”

“I remember that!” Hana grins. That had been about a month ago though. “He texted me about it. He asked me for color advice.”

“Of course he did.”

“Sorry Genji, I guess not everyone’s lucky enough to get phone calls three times a _week_.” Hana shoots over her shoulder at Jesse. He’s got Lúcio under his arms now, the latter trying claw his way around Jesse’s back. Honestly Hana’s not sure what the musician is trying to accomplish here.

“Hey, I’m his _boyfriend_.” Jesse fires back, trying to wrangle Lúcio. Hana makes a face at him and turns again to face the forest.

“Still, if you don’t know, I’m not gonna ruin the surprise.” She rubs her hands together gleefully. There comes a heavy thud from behind them, and cursing in both Spanish and Portuguese.

“Get yer lard ass off me, you leggy hunk of--”

“Not my fault you can’t handle a little bit of capoeira--”

“Capoeira _this_ \--”

There comes a loud rustling from the trees. Genji and Hana share an excited look.

Bastion trods out of the forest, and on their shoulder perches one Hanzo Shimada.

“You better quit fighting if you want to be the first one to give your _boyfriend_ a proper greeting.” Genji calls as he walks calmly out of the hangar.

“Not if I get there first!” Hana crows, bursting into a full sprint. She feels light as a feather as she runs across the warm concrete. Bastion sets Hanzo down on the ground just in time for him to open his arms. She launches herself into them.

“Hanzo!” She cries happily, laughing as he swings her around. His own laughter rumbles through her, it’s been so long since she’s heard his voice not through a speaker. She pushes away from him a little so she can see his face. He looks so much healthier since she saw him last.

Hanzo still looks tired, but this time it’s due to the exertion of travel. He’s dressed for travel too, in a tough jacket and pants. What skin is visible is tanned from the sun. He’s vibrant, so much more filled with life than ever before.

And with a few new cosmetic adjustments, too.

“I told you we’d match.” Hana comments. Hanzo’s hair is shaved at the back and sides (Hana still misses the little feathery sideburns), and they make the sharp edges of his face stand out more; they make him look a little older despite the lack of gray, but he looks none the worse for it. The rest of his hair is pulled into a loose bun. Bastion’s stuck a flower in it. For all intents and purposes it’s close in style to Hana’s own hair--still short, but now buzzed around the sides to create a cute undercut.

“It suits you.” Hanzo nods, adjusting his grip so he’s holding her more securely, so she can make her observations (and he can make his own).

“And your piercings! So neat I-R-L!” Hana grins, pointing to the new bridge piercing across Hanzo’s nose. “Still can’t believe you got that one.”

“It wasn’t as bad as you think.” Hanzo shrugs, smirking. The tilt of his head that goes along with it give Hana a better look at his ear piercings. Only basic lobe piercings, but the earrings he wore were thick in diameter.

“I was right! You’re sizing up!” Hana cries. “They make earplugs with my logo, you know what that means right?”

“It means you’ll have to bribe me a lot to do what you’re suggesting.” Hanzo snorts, setting her down finally. She pouts and shoves at him playfully. He chuckles and ruffles a hand through her hair. He pauses a little when he sees Genji only a few feet away. He smiles, but he’s wary.

Genji’s arms are crossed, quietly observing all the changes about his brother. Finally:

“Hot Topic called, you missed your graveyard shift.”

Hanzo relaxes, rolling his eyes and, to the shock of all, he sticks his tongue out at his brother. Hana gasps excitedly, and she knows for a fact if Genji wasn’t wearing his faceplate they’d see his jaw on the floor.

Hanzo has a tongue stud.

“You did it! You actually did it!” Hana squeals. “I totally thought you wouldn’t!”

“When have I ever backed down from a challenge?” He raises an eyebrow at her, grinning smugly.

“Hana, you _challenged_ him to get a tongue piercing, and you _didn’t tell me_?” Genji wheezes out, sounding betrayed. “You’re dead to me, Hana. You’re no sister of mine.”

“I’ll live with that, just for the look I know is on your face.” Hana laughs, unbothered. Even Hanzo laughs, clapping his brother on the shoulder.

“I can’t believe this.” Genji holds his hands to his head. “Who are you and what have you done with Hanzo?”

“What’s wrong, Genji? Don’t you recognize me?” Hanzo snickers, echoing back a line Hana once heard them exchange before a mission deployment not long after Hanzo had first come to Overwatch.

“You are not the Hanzo I knew.” Genji shakes his head. Hanzo’s smile almost falls, but then Genji yanks him into a hug. Hana takes a step back to give them space, but she still catches Genji saying: “You are better. I’ve missed you.”

Hanzo pulls away grinning. He turns a little, though, and freezes. Hana follows his gaze, and has to cover her mouth with her hands to stifle the ungodly snort that nearly broke the air.

Jesse’s similarly frozen, but by his expression and the red in his cheeks Hanzo hadn’t told him about any of his changes either. Lúcio has his elbow propped on Jesse’s shoulder comically.

“Don’t worry, his brain’ll start working again eventually.” He teases. He skates forward, doing an appraising loop around Hanzo. “Nice new duds, nice new _studs_.”

He raises his hand for a high five. “It’s good to have you back, man.”

Hanzo takes it with his other hand and turns it into a shoulder bump. Lúcio grins and laughs.

Hanzo steps towards McCree--and that finally breaks the cowboy out of his stupor. He starts shifting from foot to foot nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

“So, uh--so that’s why you didn’t call me that one week, huh?” He says. Hanzo nods, sounding apologetic.

“Yes,” He says, “I...I had to practice so it wouldn’t be obvious when I spoke. I...I wanted to surprise you.”

「 _You should have kissed him, that would have been the best way to surprise him with it._ 」 Genji snickers. Hana again has to stifle her own laughter when she deciphers what she can, and Hanzo flushes bright red. Jesse glances between the two with a wary smile.

“It’s a nice surprise.” He tilts his head at Hanzo.

“You’re not bothered?”

“Aw, hell, ‘course not, darlin’!” Jesse shakes his head, stepping forward. “How could I be bothered?”

He holds his arms open wide.

“I get to hug you now.”

Hanzo grins, and closes the distance between them, throwing his arms around Jesse’s shoulders. It’s Hanzo’s turn to be spun around, Jesse laughing as they go. When he slows, and Hanzo’s feet have reconnected with the earth, Hanzo gets a mischievous look in his eye.

“And I get to kiss you now.”

And just like that Hanzo drags Jesse into a kiss. Hana cheers.

“Yeah! Get it, Hanzo! _Get it!_ ”

Genji, on the other hand, mimes disgust.

“ _Euuuuugh_! Gross!”

Hanzo lets go of Jesse with one hand to flip off his brother. Again. Lúcio and Hana fall apart laughing as Genji continues to protest--even Bastion laughs at the scene.

When the two break apart Hana selfishly runs at them, throwing her arms around them both but leaning closer to Hanzo.

“It’s good to have you home, _hyeong_.” Hana smiles up at him. He returns the smile.

“It’s good to be home, _imōto-san_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaah the epilogue! Nothing but pure, unadulterated fluff and sweet, sweet Mid-life Crisis Hipster Hanzo.  
> Hope you enjoyed this fic! On to the next adventure!


End file.
